Interlude:
Coming-of-Age Ceremony
LET US SPEAK of my younger sisters.
Norn was working hard as the student council president. For most students
these days, she was the only person who came to mind when you mentioned the
title. Then again, that might have been because most of the students around for
Ariel's era had graduated.
Norn was a popular president. A lot of the students would even call her
"Nornie." Norn didn't seem to appreciate that, but hey, it was sweet. Ariel had
the reputation of being a reliable president, but Norn had the reputation of being
an approachable one. However, (and this might have been her fan club's
influence at work) she had zero romantic prospects. She was also treated as
something of a mascot for the school—harmless, inoffensive. Sexless.
Of course, she worked hard at her studies as well. I heard that just the
other day, she was recognized as Intermediate-tier in Sword God Style during
her swordsmanship class. Her progress might have been a little slow compared
to the people I knew, but I guess that was what normal people are like. She was
also pretty studious about her magic, and she took plenty of other classes on top
of it. I didn't know her exact syllabus, but the last time I popped my head into
school, I overheard someone say, "Man, I see President Norn everywhere." She
was never quite the best at anything, but she applied herself to a broad range of
subjects to make up for it.
Aisha was getting pretty stuck on Arus lately. While it was true that Eris's
rough mothering skills had been showing up in Arus' behavior, Aisha found
baby boys adorable and so she doted on him. It looked like she had a favorite.
She'd started a habit of saying, "Oh, Arus is so cute" lately, and I was not super
sure what that meant, exactly.
Of course, pampering a baby is fine. There were some parts that worried
me, that was all. Like, maybe she was into him a little too much… Just recently,
when Arus started crying out of hunger, she exposed her own breasts to him and
tried to get him to suck on them. Her defense was that she thought he'd stop
crying if she gave him something to suck on, but I don't know…Arus did cheer
up and start laughing while sandwiched in her boobs, so I could sort of
understand where Aisha was coming from. But I was pretty concerned even so.
When I thought about how she had nobody to expose her breasts to besides a
toddler, well, you know.
It was minor, in the grand scheme of things.
She was handling the mercenary band well. When I declared that the
mercenary band would serve as Orsted Corporation's intel network and that it
would span the entire world, she didn't even need to have it explained. She got
to work gathering the necessary personnel, property, and negotiations to build
branches in other nations. She was also good at keeping a leash on Linia and
Pursena. Now, Aisha herself wasn't particularly gifted as a manager. I heard that
she tended to come down particularly hard on the sort of unskilled employees
who repeated the same mistakes time and time again. It was Linia and Pursena
who brought out the best in those employees, of course.
Hey, strengths and weaknesses. Aisha was the brains of the operation, and
she was darn good at it.
Now! Both Norn and Aisha were approaching their fifteenth birthdays. I
don't mean to repeat myself, but this world treated every fifth birthday as a
milestone that was met with great celebration. Especially at age fifteen, at which
point one was considered an adult; nobles would frequently celebrate this with a
massive party.
The Coming-of-Age ceremony. To humans of this world, it was perhaps
the most important day of their lives. I'm sure this needs no explanation as well,
but I planned to celebrate both of their birthdays. And big time: I'd get a fat wad
of cash from Orsted, blow it all on the biggest building money could buy, hit up
every friend and bigwig I knew, get them to plop down sweetest gifts they could,
and give those girls the complete princess treatment.
And with that level of excitement, I brought it up to Roxy.
"I don't know about Aisha, but I think Norn would be happier with
something a bit more…practical. Maybe you should rethink it?"
Shot down.
Basically, they weren't royalty, so a party at home would be plenty.
Afterward, Roxy patted my head and said, "You want to go all out with
their birthdays because you never celebrated your own fifteenth birthday.
Right?"
Nope, didn't give a damn about my fifteenth birthday…but hey, Roxy was
giving me head pats, so who was I to object? I'm a good widdle boy.
Moderation could be good in its way, though. Roxy opened my eyes to
that.
"For now, we should talk to the rest of the family to come up with a way
to celebrate."
And so, we planned a secret family meeting with everyone but Norn and
Aisha.
***
We held the conference in the basement under the veil of night. The entire
family, excluding Aisha and Norn, gathered around the dim illumination of a
lone candle.
"Welcome, my accomplices, to the Assembly of Dark—"
"Um, Rudy, could we get some more light? It's hard to write like this."
Our secretary, Roxy, interrupted my dramatic opener to complain. I
wished she could have respected the mood.
"I mean, if there's light leaking out the door, then Aisha might notice us."
"Why do we need to hide it to begin with?"
"Um… I mean, what else would we do?"
Was this not something to hide? Like, a girl wouldn't want a boy finding
out about what she planned for Valentine's Day, right?
"It'll be much harder to prepare if we have to hide the fact that we're
doing it. Unless we have a good reason, I'd much prefer we tell them in
advance," said Lilia.
So, coming clean would make things easier on our end, too. Made sense. It
was bound to be less stressful to prepare out in the open rather than do it in
secret.
"Hmm…"
They had a point. We didn't have to hide it. Now that I thought about it,
my own fifth and tenth birthdays were surprise parties, so I had the preconceived
notion that birthdays were meant to be planned in secret. Given what happened
last time, Norn and Aisha had probably picked up by now that we were going to
celebrate their birthdays. There wasn't any reason not to tell them.
"All right, we'll just tell them we're planning something."
We might as well go whole hog. That way, there was less to worry about
when buying presents. Aisha was friends with everyone in the shopping district,
so if they thought I was being suspicious, they could wind up telling her, "Hey,
Aisha, dear, that brother of yours came by and bought some cute panties" and
blow our cover.
Of course, I wasn't going to buy them panties.
That was just an example.
I certainly wasn't thinking about how I'd bought a pair of panties that I
wanted to see on Sylphie only to have Aisha poke fun at me with a sly grin.
"But we should at least keep the presents secret," said Eris, to which
everyone nodded.
"I agree, but I also think we should decide on what we're getting them so
we don't all get them the same thing," added Sylphie.
That was an excellent point. Given how popular the two were, they were
certain to receive plenty of presents from plenty of people come their birthdays.
Norn had the student council and her fan club, while Aisha had the mercenary
band and the people from the shopping district.
"So, let's discuss what everyone plans to get them while we're all here."
With that, the meeting's topic shifted to the contents of our presents.
Everyone had already picked something out, for the most part.
Lilia would get a handkerchief for Norn and an apron for Aisha. Sylphie
would get a book for Norn and a quill pen for Aisha. Roxy would get a custommade set of armor for Norn and a (magical) gardening shovel for Aisha. Eris
would get a baldric for Norn and a belt for Aisha.
It looked like everyone put a lot of thought into their gifts. I'd done some
thinking of my own. My plan was to give her a figurine of Paul, which I'd begun
making just a few days earlier. Norn loved Paul; if there was anyone she wished
could have been there to see her grow up, it was Paul. I might get one hell of a
strange look for this gift…but hey, we'd cross that bridge when we got to it.
But with Aisha, I was a bit lost. I didn't know what she wanted. I did
know that she liked cute things. It might have been hard to imagine based on her
rough, competent exterior, but she was obsessed with all things girly; she loved
frilly clothes, sparkly accessories, and everything in between. Something like
that would work as a gift…but she'd been earning consulting fees from the
mercenary band as of late, so she bought what she wanted, when she wanted it.
"Enlighten me, what gifts made you all happiest when you came of age?"
I proposed to the women. Research was important.
"It was quite a long time ago, but I received a hair accessory from my
parents. It was their way of telling me to at least attempt looking ladylike."
That was Lilia. I didn't know what kind of person she was at fifteen, but
I'd heard that she wasn't exactly the type for high fashion. She did grow up in a
training hall.
"I forgot what day I was born, so I have no…oh, right! Ariel's group gave
me plenty of stuff, like clothes, and shoes…"
So, Sylphie's gifts were clothing-related. She typically dressed pretty plain
and boyish, so they probably gave all that to her so she could at least dress up in
private.
"I don't have much. The Migurd Tribe never had that sort of custom."
Fair enough, Roxy. For the record, I did give her a hat as a wedding gift,
so she could have given that as an example…
"Let's see, I had Ruijerd recognize me as a warrior… And Rudeus gave
me, umm…the thing!"
Eris did indeed get The Thing. It was a bit too embarrassing to say out
loud, but that was the first time Eris and I did The Thing. You know, swapping
uniforms.
Speaking of which, Aisha did seem to be fond of me. Perhaps she'd be
overjoyed to receive The Thing. No, on second thought, I could never do That
Exact Thing to Aisha. But perhaps it could be a nice present as long as it didn't
go so far as to end in The Thing. We'd go to a seaside restaurant and have a
toast to your beautiful eyes, delight our tongues with whatever whims the chef
prepares, and give you a Cinderella night that comes only once in a lifetime…
Just that thought made me a bit embarrassed.
"Hmm, I can't decide on what to give Aisha."
"Aisha seems like she'd be happy with anything if it came from you,"
Sylphie said with a chuckle.
That might be true, but that made the choice all the more important. That
was why I wanted to give her something that'd make her super happy. Hmm…
Maybe I should just shoot for a luxury gift? Like a 100K-carat diamond. Orsted
would tell me where to go if I asked. You could've told me to grab it from the
belly of a behemoth and I wouldn't have hesitated.
"Why not give her whatever gift made you the happiest?"
Roxy's suggestion made it all click for me. She was completely right!
"I see… Then that's what I'll do."
I nodded deeply now that I'd found my answer.
I knew what my present would be.
***
After a few additional meetings, the preparations were underway. We told
Norn and Aisha that we'd throw a birthday party for them and to keep their
schedules open for that day.
The two were happy to hear it. I expected Norn to say, "I don't need
anything!" or something like that, but instead, she bowed her head and gave a
sincere "Thank you very much." It was rare to see Norn act so agreeable…but
on second thought, she only ever snubbed me when we were at school. She had a
reputation to uphold there, so maybe it was natural.
I expected Aisha to be more straightforward and start jumping over how
excited she was. However, she didn't; instead, her eyes widened in surprise as
she murmured, "Oh, right, I'm an adult now." A bit slow on the uptake.
Given how smart she was, maybe something was on her mind. Perhaps I
could take her aside during the party to give her some special, adult lessons…
Nah, let's not. I wasn't adult enough to call myself one with a straight face. If I
started telling her what the world was like, anything I said would come back to
bite me.
Anyway, we gave them the heads up so all that remained was to wait for
the special day.
***
The big day had finally arrived. Norn went to school, as usual.
"I'll try to be back as early as I can," she said. Well, she must've been
excited.
Aisha left early in the morning to head to the mercenary band's office…
but she was home by noon. It sounded like she finished her work early. I thought
she would've come back carrying presents from the band members, but she
came back empty-handed.
"You didn't get anything?"
"Hmm, I did tell them it was my birthday. Maybe it's cause they're
beastfolk and don't really know that custom."
That said, she did have plenty of people congratulating her, so she seemed
in pretty high spirits. But did the shopping district people not give Aisha
anything, either? Well, I guess being a customer didn't make you family… But
hey, not every present was something you could put a bow on. What matters is
that you want to congratulate someone. It's the thought that counts.
"Hey, Big Brother, can I watch you set up?"
"Yeah, of course."
Aisha sat right down in the dining room and watched absentmindedly as
we prepared the party. She watched Lilia and Sylphie go back and forth between
the kitchen and the dining room. She watched Eris and Roxy return from their
trip to the market carrying a mountain of groceries. She watched me pitch in
with a little bit of everything in between setting up the decorations. She watched
it all, without saying a word.
Being hovered over made it a bit harder to work, but she was the birthday
girl, and I did tell her it was okay, so it was kind of hard to tell her to come back
in the evening. That, and she really did just watch. Aisha didn't really say
anything to interject; she just spaced out while we worked.
Even when Zenith sat down next to her and started to pat her head, she
said nothing and continued to watch.
Even when Leo rested his head on Aisha's lap, she didn't pay him much
mind and continued to watch.
Even when Arus started crying, she only left her seat for a short while
before she returned and continued to watch.
Even when Lucie came by and asked her Big Sister Aisha if they could
play together, she just smiled, said that she was a bit busy at the moment, and
continued to watch.
She watched, and that was it. I couldn't tell what she was thinking. Maybe
she was contemplating everything that came with coming of age. Or maybe she
was chuckling at how clumsily we did our jobs. Either way, I couldn't tell.
Eventually, dusk arrived. We completed all of our preparations under
Aisha's watchful eye. The dining room was fully decked out. In a corner of the
room was a mountain of wrapped presents that we planned to give to the girls.
Atop the table was an array of shelf-stable foods; we planned to start making the
main dish once Norn returned.
All that was left was to wait for Norn. Was she running late? If she was
going to be out for a while longer, it might have been best to pick her up. That's
what I was thinking as Norn got home early, just as she'd said she would.
"Hello, I'm home."
Norn's arms were wrapped around a huge, dangerously precarious bundle
of presents. Her left hand carried a bouquet. Her right hand carried a wooden
box stuffed with everything from patterned cloths to hair accessories, to
mysteriously shaped artifacts whose utilities I couldn't begin to surmise.
"Sorry I'm late. People started giving me all this when I tried to leave… I
planned to leave them in my dorm, but I couldn't fit them all into the closet. I
thought I'd take these ones back to leave at home, but my bag ripped open on the
way here…"
It sounded like a diverse throng of people had burdened her with an
equally diverse variety of presents; that was how many people at school wanted
to wish Norn a happy birthday. Guess they didn't call her the "approachable"
student council president for nothing. I just hoped none of her admirers gave her
something creepy, like a cookie with a strand of hair baked in… Let's not think
about that.
We welcomed Norn home and got the party started at last.
***
It was the same kind of birthday party I'd thrown for them a few years
ago. I gave the opening speech. Being fifteen didn't mean things would change
overnight, but they were now adults in the eyes of society—or so my life advice
went. It was the speech I felt unqualified to give but wound up giving anyway.
Somehow, I'd gone into know-it-all-mode. My tongue slipped.
With that introduction out of the way, the other adults among us all talked
about "conducting yourself like an adult." Sylphie said that they wouldn't need
to ask the family for permission anymore, but they'd need to be responsible.
Roxy advised them to never stop learning. Eris told them they should always
have a goal. Lilia seemed more emotional than usual; she talked about Paul and
Zenith's younger years and the day the two girls were born while nearly sobbing.
Zenith patted her head.
Norn's face lit up into a smile when she saw the presents we gave her. She
especially liked the armor that Roxy had asked a blacksmith acquaintance to
make. Just for this day, Roxy custom-ordered a set of armor that looked just like
Paul's old set, which now hung in Zenith's room. It was resized to fit Norn's
body and restyled to have a more feminine look. When she equipped Paul's
trusty sword to the baldric that Eris got her, she looked just like a full-fledged
swordswoman. Those two might have remembered when Norn once said that she
wanted to be an adventurer.
She reacted to the bust of Paul that I made with, at first, outright
confusion. I was proud of my work, but it was a thirty-centimeter-tall statue
made of stone, so I understood where she was coming from. I didn't realize
while I was making it, but it was what modern society would likely categorize as
a dud gift. But, this world didn't have photographs.
After looking at the bust for a while, tears started welling in Norn's eyes,
perhaps from the memories of Paul it brought back. "I'll treasure it," she said as
she finally accepted it.
When we all finished giving out our presents, Norn addressed us.
"Um, thank you very much. I'll do my best to be an adult going forward. I
hope you'll all support me the way you always have. You're the best."
Her heart was bursting with emotion, but she put it beautifully. Her words
made Lilia crumble in tears yet again. Norn, you've really grown up…
It was good to see Norn so happy, but what about Aisha? Aisha seemed
happy too, but I felt something was wrong when I looked at her. She didn't
wince or show any obvious displeasure, of course. For every gift she got, she'd
thank someone by saying, "Wow, amazing! It's so cute! Thank you!" Or she'd
express her delight by saying, "It's just what I've always wanted!"
On the surface, Aisha seemed to be enjoying the party as her normal,
cheerful self. So what was wrong? I suppose the best way to describe it really
was that something felt off. To my eyes, Aisha looked a bit detached; as though
her smile and laughs were forced, like it was all an act. Maybe it was how she'd
acted that afternoon that made me feel that way.
With my suspicions still high, I gave her my present: a pendant. The
Migurd pendant…was in Ruijerd's possession, so this was a replica. It was
handmade, too, making it neither expensive nor a genuine article.
"Aisha, this is something that was given to me to commemorate my own
path to becoming an adult. It might not mean anything to you, but I wanted to
give this to you as a symbol of your adulthood."
I was aware that this gift meant more to me than it could to anyone who
received it. But for some reason, I wanted to give this to Aisha instead of Norn. I
didn't know why. But when they asked me what gift made me the happiest, this
was the first thing that came to mind.
"Oh… Thank you."
There was no life behind her eyes.
Her expression was blank. Deep in thought, she turned the pendant over
and over in her hands.
***
We enjoyed the rest of the party over servings of the main course and
cake. There were still some surprises left. Once the sun had fully set, students
started coming by and leaving presents for Norn. It seemed like they'd only
found out about Norn's birthday today and scrambled to buy something while
they could.
There were a lot of students like that. And when they saw me answer the
door, a lot of them went pale. But no worries! I met them all with a flash of the
good ol' Shining Rudeus Smile. Ah, the smile, truly humanity's most universal
greeting.
…It didn't go well.
The sight of my smile made their pale faces freeze in even greater terror,
with some attempting to run. Sylphie caught them and safely delivered their
presents to Norn while smoothing over the scene we'd been making…but really,
how rude!
So many of them came by that eventually, Norn's presents stacked up like
a mountain. Aisha, on the other hand, didn't have any presents besides the ones
we gave her. She was maintaining her facade, but it seemed a bit strained now,
making her look deeply hurt to my eyes.
I doubted that anyone besides myself had noticed that Aisha's smile was
faked. I could have been overthinking it; Aisha might not have minded the
presents one bit. But bringing it up with Sylphie felt like a good idea. While I
was hemming and hawing over what to do about Aisha, I noticed the area
beyond our front door had gotten rowdy, like a huge gathering of people. Their
riotous chatter was broken up by Leo's sudden barking.
"We've got company," said Eris. Her expression turned to stone as she
picked up the sword lying in the corner.
Was Orsted coming by? No, there were too many people out there. Orsted
wasn't the type to draw a crowd.
I headed to the front door to make sure. When I stepped outside, I saw a
mob of miscreants closing in on my home. Their frames were bulky, their fur
thick, and their fangs bared. Every one of them was draped in a plain black
cloak. They were a fearsome bunch. That said, they looked pretty beaten up;
some were injured, while some were wrapped in newly tattered cloaks.
Leading the pack was none other than the town's most diabolical duo. The
two shook out their frazzled hair as they argued with each other.
"It was your fault, Linia. Screwing up the end of that job yesterday made
us start late."
"M-mew?! But you're the one who dumped that on me, Pursena!"
"There ya go again, blaming anyone but yourself. Trust me, Linia, it's all
your fault."
"Coming from the one who was supposed to track our prey's scent but
dragged us to some random barbeque? That's rich, mew! Your screwup was the
reason it took so long to take down that hog, mew!"
"Geh! I-it's their fault for camping out there!"
It was Linia and Pursena. As usual, they were at each other's throats. But
this time, they were just bantering. The people around them seemed used to it;
they kept their hands behind their backs in a parade rest.
"Ah, Boss!"
"Murr? All hands, salute, mew!"
At Linia's somewhat belated command, her followers all bowed their
heads in unison. At that moment, I saw what was behind them. There was a
gigantic mound atop a wooden board.
"Boss! We're here to celebrate our advisor's coming-of-age, mew!"
"We were out in the forest since yesterday bagging this!"
"This" referred to a gigantic monster. One that resembled a boar and lived
in the forests around this area. And what did they mean since yesterday?
"Wait… Were none of you guys at the office today?"
"Don't sweat it, mew. We left the minimum amount of people to keep the
lights on, mew."
"Yep. We scheduled it so that pretty much nobody had to work today."
Which meant that Aisha must have come home early because the office
was almost empty. She went with excitement to celebrate her birthday, but there
was nobody to celebrate with. And no work, either. She thought that people
would come if she waited, but even by noon, nobody had. Yeah, I couldn't fault
Aisha for getting existential over that.
"Mew! Hey, Advisor!"
"Guys, the advisor's here!"
I turned around to see Aisha standing behind me. She looked absolutely
stupefied by the huge boar the mercenaries thudded onto our doorstep.
"What…is this?"
"Advisor! Happy birthday!"
With Pursena's words as the signal, the mercenary band all bowed their
heads once again. Congratulations, congratulations, they bellowed, creating
echoes loud enough to warrant a neighborhood noise complaint. It was like
watching a yakuza ceremony, except the person everyone bowed to was a single
little girl.
"Ah… Aha!"
Aisha laughed.
As though this sight had broken her grim mood, she laughed.
"You don't expect me to eat all that! …Aha, ahahahaha!"
Page 104 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com
Saying it aloud made her crack up even harder. The mercenaries were
being laughed at, but they took it well because of how happy Aisha was. Every
one of them, Aisha included, looked relieved and full of joy. After spending all
day having Norn's popularity shoved in her face, Aisha realized that she was
equally popular in her own corner of the world.
"Hey, Big Brother, since they're here and all, is it all right if we all eat
together on the lawn?"
I took a glance at the mercenaries and saw that some were wagging their
tails at the suggestion. I wasn't an expert on beastfolk etiquette, but when any
species of hunter brought some quarry to your house, they didn't just hand over
their game and walk away. Everyone was supposed to join the party. This went
double when those hunters' stomachs growled and their jaws dripped with drool.
"Yeah, of course."
Aisha's smile stretched from ear to ear.
***
Everyone joined the cookout on the front lawn. Even some students who'd
come for Norn found themselves roped in. The boar that the beastfolk brought
was roasted whole, and the drinks—brought by an old man who Aisha helped
back in the shopping district—flowed freely.
Norn sighed; this rowdy get-together was far removed from the quiet,
introspective ceremony which started the night. Note that Norn carefully kept
displeasure from showing on her face and refrained from saying anything that
would rain on this parade. Probably out of consideration for Aisha, who was
having the time of her life.
The cookout continued for a while, but once the mercenary band had
gorged themselves, people decided to call it a night. As the crowd thinned out I
heard Aisha mutter to herself:
"What even is an adult?"
In contrast to Norn's contentious weighing of her own adulthood, Aisha's
small question sounded childish. But hey, that's life. Adults come in different
styles; Norn had her style, and Aisha had hers. There were as many ways to be
an adult or a child as there were people. If you were who you were supposed to
be and managed to stay true to yourself, then you were doing all right.
"Yeah, what even is an adult, huh?" I answered her. I didn't feel like I
needed to put up a front for Aisha.
And that was how Aisha and Norn turned fifteen years old.
Chapter 5:
Growth and New Horizons
IT WAS LIKE I'd blinked and a year had passed. Today was the graduation
ceremony. The Ranoa University of Magic's graduation ceremony.
My graduation ceremony.
Today, I dressed myself up in my rarely worn old uniform and joined the
procession that I'd always watched from the student council's sidelines. This
time, I was one of the graduates. The ceremony for Zanoba and Cliff felt like it
was just yesterday.
I listened to the principal's speech while surrounded by classmates I didn't
recognize. The speech hadn't changed, though. I'd heard this one a few times.
He probably read off the same script every year. Having nobody but graduating
students here meant he could cut corners, but I wasn't exactly swept away by it.
The fact that I hadn't been coming to school at all probably made me feel
even less connected to the ceremony. I'd barely taken any classes, and by the
end of it all, I wasn't even showing up to homeroom. Just a name on the
attendance sheet. True, my research into the theory of silent casting and the
report I submitted on the methods to train for it had earned me a C-rank
membership in the Magicians' Guild, but, well…
Research papers and ranks and stuff are a little dry, yeah? I wasn't gonna
get misty-eyed over them.
Ah, well. These times are for nostalgia anyway, and I had plenty of that.
My reunion with Sylphie, my friendships with Zanoba and Cliff, the sexual
harassment Linia and Pursena heaped on me at every turn, my talks with
Nanahoshi about our memories of Japan, time spent sharing drinks and laughs
with Badigadi…
Here I was, about to say goodbye to the place where it all happened. That
was when the tears started.
Oh. These are those "emotions" I've heard so much about, right? Yeah.
Those touching memories are what counts.
***
Let's take stock.
Over the last year, I finished spreading roots into the Asura area. I stayed
in the Asura Kingdom for a few months and set up the Mercenary Band branch,
the Zanoba Store branch, and the workshop that would manufacture the store's
products.
This was Ariel's influence. She wasn't hard to win over; when I asked her
if she would cooperate with Orsted, she gave me the reassuring response of "I
was planning to from the start." She even gathered the people of her faction and
held a party for my cause. It was presented as an opportunity for them to
network with me—or rather, with the member of the Seven Powers, the "Dragon
God" whose interests I represented. They were all part of Ariel's faction, so they
listened to her. But faction ties only go so far. If you wanna know what got them
out of bed in the mornings, they backed Ariel and hoped she'd remember them
when it was time to hand out positions. To put it bluntly, most of them were
Ariel's yes-men.
However, there were a few people among them who weren't total wastes
of skin. One of them was the Water Emperor Isolde. Another was the Sword
King Nina, although I still didn't know what twist of fate brought her to that
ballroom… At any rate, it was delightful to see the current faces of the Water
God Style and the Sword God Style be so receptive to cooperating with Orsted.
When I mentioned this to Eris, she declared that she would handle
winning Nina over and dashed off. How that went was a mystery. It looked like
the three of them hung out all over town like school pals, but I didn't ask Eris for
the results. I didn't have my hopes up, but if this Nina person could gain trust in
me by trusting Eris, that'd help quite a bit.
I'd gotten a lot of people to sign up, but I'd been less successful at getting
them to understand what they were agreeing to. The stuff about Laplace
resurrecting in eighty years zipped through one ear and out the other. But Ariel
was an instinctive leader, and they all bounded after her like a pack of leashed
dogs. Nothing to worry about there. My work in Asura was now delegated, and I
could put it out of mind.
When I informed Ariel that Eris had given birth to a boy, making him my
third child, she was quite pleased. And then, she gave me a devilish look, and
said:
"That gives me an idea. Why not have one of your children marry a child
from the Asura nobility? I believe that would give our partnership a much
stronger foundation…"
I got the feeling that she was serious. You're joking, was my oppositional,
knee-jerk response. But perhaps popping out a few kids and marrying them to
cement alliances with the necessary authorities wasn't the worst idea?
For people a little less fearless than Ariel, familial ties might soften the
intimidation of shadowy Orsted and me, his fishy little evangelist.
If one of my kids married a relative of Ariel's, I'd be relieved to know
they'd be well taken care of. I love my children dearly, after all. Not that I was
seriously considering an arranged marriage for any of them. I mean, unless one
of my daughters were absolutely set on wanting to be a princess or marry a
prince. Then sure, we'd talk about it.
Anyway. Marriages and all that aside, no jokes, I held the entire Asura
region in the palm of my hand. I had the nobles led by Ariel. I had the school of
the Water God Style. With luck, I'd have the residents of the Sword Sanctum
soon. Progress on the factory and store for the Ruijerd figurine and picture book
bundles was chugging along. By looping in the Mercenary Band (for
distribution), I'd be able to spread the Ruijerd figurines throughout the majority
of the Central Continent.
It was perfect. If I could make it happen, we'd hear from Ruijerd as soon
as possible.
Right now, I was preparing to move on to the King Dragon Realm and use
my connections with Death God Randolph to network over there. I wouldn't
have any big players like Ariel on my side, so it was sure to be a challenge. I was
looking at a two-to-three-year effort, minimum, though it could very well take
more.
The Asura Kingdom was like a tutorial. This was where the real work
began.
Let's go over our research, while we're at it.
First, Zanoba. Directing the store's opening and its sales operations kept
him busy over the past year, so he'd let his research fall to the wayside. Perfectly
understandable. The last year saw a simultaneous opening of stores in Sharia and
Asura. Something had to give with how busy he was. But thanks to the excellent
support of Ginger, the manager hired from the Mercenary Band, and the
financial brains that Ariel contributed, the shops themselves were running
smoothly.
The figurine and picture book bundles weren't exactly flying off the
shelves, but they did a reasonable trade. The real hit of the bundle was the
reading-and-writing practice worksheet at the end of the book. I was a little irked
that something I slipped in as an afterthought was the star product, but I should
swallow my pride and accept the victory. Well, whatever—with Ariel as a
sponsor, the store was in no danger of closing any time soon. All they had to do
was take things slow and steady.
Next up: Cliff. He spent the past year fully dedicating himself to family
and his research—the research into lifting the curses on Elinalise and Orsted. No
revolutionary breakthroughs there, sadly. It was hitting some major roadblocks.
He succeeded in strengthening the effects of the magical implements, but
a complete cure was always just out of reach. Still, thanks to this work, Elinalise
would be able to survive over a year without any maintenance. Whether her selfcontrol would be able to do the same was another story.
So, how about we check in on my progress? Fortunately, I get things done.
As I went back and forth between the Asura Kingdom and the Magic City
of Sharia, I thought about how to summon the Magic Armor. I even asked
Perugius if he knew any methods, and sought advice from Nanahoshi.
In my search, I noticed a law that the magic operated underneath—the
bidirectional teleportation circles, I mean. See, the moment that a teleportation
occurs, whatever's on top of the circles is swapped. An object on teleportation
circle A will be sent to circle B, and at the same time, any object on circle B is
sent to circle A. The fact that the activation timing occurs when something is
placed on top of the circle made this law a bit hard to notice, but after I thought
about it, this "equivalent exchange" kinda stuff is standard for the genre.
Anyway, that was a eureka moment, and it sparked the birth of my new,
revolutionary technique: I would take the Magic Armor and place it on a
bidirectional teleportation circle in advance. Then I'd carry a scroll containing an
unused teleportation circle with me. When the crisis moment arrived, I could
unfurl the scroll and activate the teleportation circle. Bam! There you go, would
ya look at that, ladies and gents! The Magic Armor I'd prepared in advance
would hop from its preprepared location and teleport to me right when I needed
it.
I hurried to the basement of the office to set up the Magic Armor and test
this idea, and it worked beautifully. This made it possible to summon the Magic
Armor Version One from anywhere in the world. You know, like the whole
"Rise, Gu*dam!" thing.
Couple snags: I would have to carry this huge scroll with me, and the
weight of the Magic Armor shredded the scroll to bits after summoning. You'd
get one summon per scroll, that was it. No wishing for more wishes.
But, if I had two scrolls that were linked to each other, they could function
as emergency escape teleports. This research had a lot of practical applications.
And then there was Orsted. He really came through for me here. He
made…not exactly a phone, but a stone tablet for communication. Apparently, it
was built with the exact same mechanism as the Technique God's monuments to
the Seven Great Powers. The way it worked was that anything written on the
main contact tablet would be reflected on the sub tablets. If we both had a main
and a sub tablet each, then we could contact each other through text whenever
we wanted. But given how heavy they were on top of their massive size, walking
around with them was going to be a challenge. They consumed a large amount
of mana to boot, so this was more of a fixture at a home base than a portable
device.
Basically, a phone booth, not a cellphone.
For now, we set up the first pair in both Orsted's office and Ariel's
chambers. I could imagine Ariel kneeling before the shining tablets every night
and saying something like, "Rest assured, my liege, I will defeat those blasted
Rangers."
Anyway, that's pretty much how research has been going. Might as well
give an update on the kids while I'm at it.
First, Lucie. My oldest daughter turned five years old. Her birthday party
was held last month, where she got presents from everyone in the family and
was very pleased with herself. She was growing up to be a healthy young girl. I
could have sworn it was yesterday that she stumbled through her first steps and
stuttered through her first words, but now, her feet were firmly on the ground.
And while she still stuttered, she'd learned to form words clearly. Her favorite
words were "Nuh-uh!" and "Buhhht!"
In addition, she learned how to cast Beginner-tier magic from Sylphie and
Roxy's extracurricular lessons. Her days were spent practicing magic in the
morning and swinging a stick with Eris in the afternoon. It was like watching my
own childhood. The schedule might have seemed natural to Lucie herself, but to
an outside observer it looked as vicious as a Spartan military drill. That was why
I couldn't help but pamper her when I got the chance, which might explain why
she'd started shouting "Papa!" and jumping in excitement at the sight of me.
Super cute.
Her special fifth birthday party seemed to have kindled a new awareness
in her about the responsibilities of an older sister. She started looking out for
Lara and Arus. She also got it into her head that Lara's faithful companion, Leo,
was also a sort of little brother, so she and Lara give him lots of pets. Just the
other day, she was brushing his coat of white fur.
It was truly a heartwarming sight…until we later found out that she was
using Sylphie's brush to do it. Swiping her mother's brush and coating it in dog
hair made Sylphie furious.
"Buhhht, Mama and Leo have white hair!" was Lucie's excuse. I cracked
a smile. Kids said the darndest things! But that made Sylphie so mad at me that
she froze me out for a whole day. She only forgave me because Lucie found a
way to get me good.
"I'll use Papa's brush next time, so don't get mad at him, okay?"
That was her version of sticking up for me. It cost me a brush in the end,
but it was a price I was glad to pay. The only brush a real man needs is his
fingers.
On to Lara. Our two-year-old future savior was as stone-faced and
unshakable as ever. But that certainly didn't mean she was sluggish; now that
she was able to trot on her own two feet, she was all over the place and into
everything. She clung to nobody and followed only the whims of her curiosity.
She got that from her mom. I didn't do that.
I was anxious to ever take my eyes off of her, but I was probably worrying
too much—her guard dog Leo was always there to protect her from getting hurt.
If she was on some adventure and needed to plop down asleep right in the
middle of it, then Leo would wrap himself around her to keep her safe.
Lara, however, seemed to see Leo as more of a butler. Her preferred form
of travel these days was to climb up on Leo's back, grab on, and ride her steed to
far off lands. There was even a time when Eris took Leo out for a walk, noticed
he had some kind of backpack on, and found Lara had packed herself inside. Leo
was supposed to ease our worries, but kids have ways of inventing new ones.
I wasn't sure why, exactly, but Lara had taken a liking to Zenith. She
would often sit on Zenith's lap and look up at her face. If you ignored the
silence, you might mistake it for a touching scene of a grandchild bonding with
her grandmother.
Last was Arus. My eldest son, now one year old, inherited my love of
boobs. He loved them big or small. He loved his mother Eris's, of course. But he
also loved the board-flat chests on Sylphie and Roxy all the way up to the
absolute melons on Linia and Pursena. He had a smile of pure, satisfied bliss on
his face whenever he was cradled against a pair of breasts. A connoisseur after
my own heart—a lover of breasts of every kind. That said, he had that same
blissful smile on his face whenever he peed himself. So hopefully I'm just
reading a lot into this. I'm a little worried for your future, buddy.
Incidentally, whenever I tried to hold him, he would burst into tears. Even
when he was sound asleep, he'd toss and turn once my arms got around him, and
when he opened his eyes, he'd cry as though I was his nightmare come to life.
He had a strong aversion to men's chests. It made me feel like crying myself…
Well, I couldn't hold it against him when I wasn't there for his birth, but it still
made me feel rejected.
Between his love for breasts and his aversion to anyone who didn't have
them, I worried he might start getting handsy with women soon. Just grab them
without restraint. When he was a little older, I'd need to sit him down and teach
him to do better. Totally.
Anyway, that's the kiddo report. If I had to write a headline above this
year's summary report, I'd call it a fruitful one. At the bottom of the report card,
I'd end my notes with something like, "Keep up the good work next year."
***
By the time I'd finished reflecting on my past year, the graduation
ceremony was over. I wasn't the valedictorian—no surprises there. They weren't
going to hand that title to someone who blew off class and the graduation exam.
Even if they offered it, I would have refused.
We can skip the post-ceremony duel exhibition. Don't think I need to go
into the romantic confession I got from an obvious gold digger, either. I should
be able to omit the part where the head teacher, Jenius, told me that he was glad
that he recommended me as he went in for a handshake, because we were going
to have variations on that conversation for years to come. Norn was still
enrolled, and I'd also want Lucie to attend this school in a few years' time. I'd
be indebted to him again soon.
Hearing Lucie would be attending before long made Jenius so emotional
that he burst into tears.
Night fell. We all gathered at our regular pub. The occasion? Cliff's
sendoff party. My graduation party was part of it, but considering I graduated
without taking a test or anything, it hardly felt like there was anything to
celebrate. I appreciated the sentiment even so.
Cliff would set off for the Holy Country of Millis in one month's time.
There, the battle would begin. It would be a personal one, and as such I wasn't
quite sure what he was fighting. Half of it was likely himself, but the other half
was a mystery. Cliff had been spending the last year preparing to take on…
something. He might've faced a setback along the way when he'd been ensnared
in Elinalise's booby trap, but with a bit of TLC, those bruises healed into
experience and love. Now, he looked like he was heading off to war.
"I promise I'll make it into the upper echelons of the Millis Church. And
when I do, I'll proudly return to bring Lise and Clive home!"
Elinalise listened in wonder to this declaration. She was strong. I knew
that in my case, if Roxy were to tell me that she was off to travel to the Demon
Continent and become the Demon Lord, I'd be pretty broken up. I'd worry
myself sick that my bright Roxy would somehow turn into the infamously idiotic
demon lord they already had.
Believing in someone enough to wait for them is easy to say and hard to
do; you could send someone off with every hope and good intention in the world
and none of it would truly protect them. And it looked like Elinalise knew that as
she gazed at Cliff. Her belief wasn't blind; it was brave. If she had misgivings,
she wouldn't let them show enough for Cliff to notice.
Times like these reminded me her long years had taught her a few things.
It was only when the party started to wind down that she corrected a few of my
assumptions.
"Rudeus, could I have a moment?" Elinalise asked me to see her outside.
She was interrupting Harem Heaven. Sylphie was using my right thigh as
a pillow to sleep on, Roxy was riding my left thigh while chugging drinks, and
Eris was resting her head on my right shoulder. Both my left and my right hands
had some something soft to explore, and with the alcohol flowing through me, I
had a really devilish idea. I'd started to calculate how I might be able to get all
three of them in bed at the same time.
But.
"Oh… Sure."
Seeing Elinalise's face sobered me up a bit. Her expression was solemn.
Out of place for a party.
I knew why. I also knew I wasn't going to be of any use to her while
drunk. I instantly detoxed myself of my alcohol.
"Whatcha doin', Rudy… You cheatin'? Cheating's bad… Keep the
cheating to me… Mmrgh…"
I quieted Roxy's drunken rambling with my lips and set her down, and
then…
"Mmph, Rudy, your thighs are so soooft…"
I set Sylphie's head upon Roxy's lap, and finally…
"Rudeus… I want my second one to be a boy…"
I set Eris on Roxy's shoulder… There. Three wives successfully peeled
off of me, and me standing up.
"All right, let's go."
I left the pub with Elinalise.
Winter was over, but the snow in Sharia tended to linger for a long time.
The cold outside the pub was no different. This chill would stay a while.
"So, Rudeus, it's about Cliff. I have a favor to ask."
Elinalise didn't waste words. I had a feeling it was going to be about Cliff.
Elinalise spent the past year worrying, too; how could she not?
"I hate to ask this sort of thing behind Cliff's back…but I must say that
I'm a bit worried."
Elinalise's breath fogged from more than just the cold. From her
perspective, Cliff was still a child. She loved him as her husband, of course, but
some of that love surely bled into a motherly concern, like she might feel for a
son or a little brother. If that was how she saw him, of course letting him go on
his own would be hard.
"So, can I ask you to go with him?"
"Are you sure?" I asked, surprised. I thought Elinalise respected Cliff's
decision.
"You only have to watch over him at the beginning… It's important for
him to hit his stride, right? I know Cliff can do it, but joining in, especially when
everyone already has their little friends, isn't Cliff's strongest skill…"
She didn't have to treat him like a shy toddler. But wait, then again, she
wasn't pulling this out of nowhere—Cliff could be like that. Considering that he
never made a single friend besides us during his entire time at the University,
yeah, fair point. I could see Cliff making it to the Holy Country of Millis and
being all alone in a big country, shunned by his peers, small and still determined
to do his very best…
Shoot, I felt tears coming on.
"But remember, I promised I wouldn't help him."
I wanted Cliff to succeed. I wanted him to rise through the ranks of the
Millis Church as high as he could. That didn't mean he needed to stand at the
very top. I just wanted him to get as far as he wanted. This was unrelated to
gathering allies for Orsted; this was my friend's dream, and I shared it with him.
But the dream was to do it himself, so I couldn't help him. Maybe he
didn't say it in so many words, but that was the unspoken meaning when I
agreed with him one year ago.
"Isn't there anything you could do?"
"…"
"Just the very beginning would be fine, really. You wouldn't have to step
in, just giving him advice if he gets stuck would be plenty…"
"Hmm."
I wasn't about to give her that "promise between men" stuff. I was
worried about Cliff too. He had the ability, but he had his weaknesses, and one
of them was bad enough it could set him back immediately. I didn't want to see
Cliff fail without ever getting to use his strengths.
In that sense, maybe a little push here or there wouldn't hurt. Cliff
wouldn't love it, but hey, you could say that your friends' resources are like an
extension of your own. You could also say that a friend who'd help him in his
time of need was just another thing Cliff gained from his life at school; in that
case, it'd show just how strong he'd become if I were to help him. I wouldn't do
to help him too much, of course. The key to this endeavor was a light touch.
"…"
All right, she convinced me.
Okay so, what about ally recruitment? I'd been planning to work in the
King Dragon Realm while Cliff was in Millis. I had already informed Aisha.
Those preparations were already underway. Would changing course for Millis
cause any problems…?
It'd probably be difficult to set up the Zanoba Store and sell figurines of a
Demon race inside the Holy Country of Millis, where we'd be right at the Millis
Church's doorstep. But I could set up a Mercenary Band branch while I was
there. We could found that local Mercenary Band to gather personnel and intel,
then wait for Cliff's success and circle back to get the store off the ground.
"All right, I'll go to Millis too."
"Oh! Thank you so much, Rudeus!"
Elinalise surely wanted to go herself. She wanted to leave Clive in my
family's care and help Cliff with his trials in the Holy Country of Millis. But she
must have made a promise to raise Clive at home while waiting for Cliff's
return.
"Allow me to say one thing, though: whether I help him or not will be my
decision to make."
"Of course, that's all I ask."
Elinalise placed a hand on her chest and sighed in relief. She'd really do
anything for her husband, huh? I wasn't dissatisfied with my current wives…but
damn. Cliff was a lucky man.
Soon enough, the sendoff party drew to a close. It was time to drag my
three drunken wives home and tuck them each into their beds.
The children were already fast asleep; it was all thanks to Lilia and Aisha
that I could go out and get wasted without worrying about the toddlers back
home. Feeling that I owed her a word of appreciation, I returned to the living
room to see Aisha. While I was at it, we needed to discuss Elinalise's request. It
was a good time to go over the (revised) Mercenary Band expansion plans with
Aisha.
With that, I entered the living room to find it blanketed in a tense
atmosphere. There was Norn, who had left the sendoff party midway through.
Lilia and Aisha, who were watching the house, were also there. All three were
standing around, grave looks overshadowing their faces.
"Did something happen?" I asked.
"Oh, Big Bro…" said Aisha. "Here, look at this."
Before the three of them was a single letter. I picked it up. The sender was
marked as "The House of Latria."
I remembered that name. It was my family on Zenith's side. It looked like
my own letter finally got a response from all the way in the Holy Country of
Millis. I noticed that the envelope had already been opened despite the envelope
being addressed to me, but that was fine. I looked inside to find a single-page
letter.
"Regarding your correspondence on my daughter, Zenith's, minimally
conscious state: I order you to bring Zenith home to the House of Latria at once.
If Norn Greyrat and Aisha Greyrat are present, they are to come as well.
—Countess of Latria, Claire Latria"
It was a pretty short message. I mean, sure, it didn't beat around the
bush…but it seemed a little too pointed count as a letter.
This was a decree.
"After all this time, you—"
I stopped myself before finishing that sentence. On second thought, it'd
been around five years since I first sent that letter. The Holy Country of Millis
was far away from here, with a one-way journey taking well over a year on
horseback. The postal service here didn't exactly work around the clock. Letters
could end up sidetracked in who knows what corner of the world before making
it to their destination. Messengers could always get attacked by monsters too, so
there was always the possibility that letters didn't make it at all. With that in
mind, perhaps five years was a reasonably prompt response.
"Hm? Wait, is this the entire letter?" I asked.
"Yes, just that," Lilia answered. It didn't seem like there was some second
package they were hiding from me.
"I see…"
Pretty brusque short for a letter that was going to take years to reach its
recipient. Wait, was that why it was short? The House of Latria surely knew the
long journey this slip of paper would take. Of course! They wrote multiple
letters to make sure one reached us. And if the short, commanding text was to
ensure all that effort didn't end in miscommunication, then it all added up. The
forceful tone was just communicating her eagerness for us to come.
Pleased with my deductions, I turned to my sisters who were…not coming
to the same conclusions.
"Hahhh…"
"Grandma… She never changes, huh?"
Norn huffed in naked exasperation, while Aisha looked at the letter with
hollow, vacant eyes. They looked as though they never wanted to see that name
again.
So. Claire was just the type to write like this.
"…"
I glanced over to find that even Lilia looked concerned. Could Claire
really be that bad? I'd never met her, so I didn't know.
"Master, what do you intend to do?" Lilia looked up to ask me.
I was determined. I'd been looking for a good excuse to go to Millis, and
then this dropped into my lap. Stroke of fortune.
"I guess we should do what the letter says and take Mom to Millis."
"…"
"…"
My sisters and my stepmom gave each other a look. I guess I picked the
wrong answer. Who even was this Claire person? Like yeah, the letter was pretty
blunt, but she'd that her daughter lost her memories and was in a semi-conscious
state. What parent wouldn't demand to see her daughter knowing she'd gone
through that?
I was sure the Latrias had been looking for her, too. Zenith might been a
little bit of a prodigal daughter to them, but according to Paul, they invested a lot
of money in the Fittoa Search and Rescue Squad, so I owed them for that. And
given that they seemed to have some power within the nation of Millis, it was
well worth it for me to meet them.
"Well, I figure that we're going to Millis at some point, so we may as well
knock out two birds with one stone. Sounds like a perfect stop while we're there
for work."
"Huh? Wait, Big Brother, hold on," Aisha hastily interjected. "Weren't we
going to the King Dragon Realm next month?"
Of course, that had been the plan. I wanted to build up the Mercenary
Band in the King Dragon Realm, make connections with Death God Randolph
and Queen Benedikte, and obtain the sponsors necessary to maintain the Zanoba
Store. And I wanted Aisha to help me do that.
Just like our experience in the Asura Kingdom, I'd need Aisha to come
with me to set up the Mercenary Band branch. Aisha and her deft hand with
recruitment would be key to getting everything in order. The first month would
be to put all the little clockwork parts in place, and the second month would be
for Aisha to slowly let it go until it chugged along independently. She had the
magic touch for this.
"Given the contents of the letter, I think we should go sooner rather than
later. Think of it as prioritizing Millis…and saying hi to Grandma while we're in
the neighborhood."
"Aww…"
Aisha pouted in deep displeasure. She might have become an adult a few
months ago, but she wasn't done with this yet.
Suddenly, Norn stood up.
"Brother…I do not want to go," Norn said.
She said it loud and clear. Not "I won't go," not "I can't go," but "I do not
want to go." And she didn't pout like Aisha; her expression was stern.
"This is an important time for both my studies and the student council. I
can't afford to empty my schedule for several months."
"Well… Yeah, that's fair," I admitted. I might have graduated, but Norn
was still in her final year. For one more crucial year, she had to attend her
classes, take her tests, and have a real graduation. Unlike me, Norn spent her
first six years of school actually going to it. Leaving that now would undo
everything she'd worked for.
"Uhh, Big Brother. Um… Oh yeah, the rice. We've got a big harvest
coming in of that rice you love, so I can't go!"
Aisha sounded like she came up with that on the spot. This was a truly
lame excuse—Aisha had already hired people from the Mercenary Band to build
those rice paddies on the outskirts and then plant them. I also knew that she'd
hired a manager to handle everything and that Aisha herself wasn't going there
herself anymore. I knew it all.
I could have pointed this out to her and forced her to come along, but
Aisha was a fickle worker. Dragging her along would sour her mood, and then
she'd be a lump I had to drag around instead of an asset. But I also couldn't do
much to set up the Mercenary Band if she didn't come along. I couldn't do what
she did…
Oh, wait. Just because she's in Millis doesn't mean she has to visit Claire,
huh?
"All right, Aisha. If you want to avoid her that badly, I won't force you to
see her. But at least come to Millis with me. We'll visit the Latria family just
me, Lilia, and my mom, so you can focus on the Mercenary Band."
"Hooray. Thanks, Bro!"
Aisha smiled from ear to ear. Wow. What a reaction. She hated Claire that
much?
On second thought, Lilia of all people was letting Aisha get away with
that. Normally, she'd scold that kind of cattiness with a whack to the head.
"Understood, Master. I shall attend with you."
Lilia bowed her head as dispassionately as usual, but I got the feeling that
she didn't want to see Claire any more than Aisha did. Considering her position,
I couldn't blame her: Zenith was a follower of Millis, meaning that her mother
almost certainly was too. I didn't know what the Millis thought of bigamy, but
given that its teachings explicitly forbade the practice, I didn't think they were
gonna give any wife after number one a warm welcome.
"Thank you in advance, Lilia."
"Oh no, I'm simply doing my job."
Zenith's care was a full-time job. Lilia and Aisha could help; if I didn't
have at least one of them come with me, then we'd be in trouble.
"All right, Aisha. With that out of the way, can you get started on
switching our destination to the Holy Country of Millis?"
"Okie doke. When're we heading out?"
"Hmm, let's see…"
Why not match Cliff's departure? We didn't have to, but there was a bit of
distance to cover between the teleportation circle and Millis itself. It wouldn't
qualify as "helping" him, so we might as well go together.
"How about a month from now?"
"Gotcha."
Still, my grandmother, huh? I wondered what kind of person she was. I
had to admit that Norn's and Aisha's reactions had me a bit scared to find out.
***
So, change of plans: no going to the King Dragon Realm just yet. We
would now build our next Mercenary Band branch in the Holy Country of Millis.
Aisha grumbled the whole time, but she still made the preparations. She
got to work on drawing up and re-filing the paperwork that previously
mentioned the King Dragon Realm so that they'd now apply to Millis. From
what I could tell, it detailed what sorts of personnel she'd need in each country.
We didn't have a foothold in the nation's government this time, so
anything we wanted to do—such as recruiting—was going to be a long process.
For now, I set a goalpost for about half a year. Once we'd been there that long,
we could assess whether we really had something here, or if it was a lost cause.
I decided to mention it to Cliff, too. By sheer coincidence, I was being
called out to Zenith's family home, so how about going together?—Something
like that. Cliff smirked, but he didn't seem bothered.
"I had a feeling you'd find a reason to tag along."
And that was that. It was a really comforting reaction, strangely. I
wondered if Cliff had actually been concerned, as though he felt left out by the
fact that I demanded to go with Zanoba last time but said nothing when it was
Cliff's turn. Like he feared that I considered him to be less of a friend.
C'mon, Cliff, ol' buddy, you know it ain't like that.
All together, we were four people headed to Millis with Cliff: Aisha,
Zenith, Lilia, and me. Lilia and Aisha's absence would leave the house
extremely shorthanded for skilled caretakers, so Sylphie was staying home. And
Roxy said she had some bad memories with the Holy Country of Millis on
account of being a demon, so she was staying back as well.
Eris wanted to go, but Lilia was categorically opposed. Madam Eris would
be best kept away from the Latria household as it'd surely erupt into conflict, she
said. I was skeptical. But from the way Lilia described her, I could tell that this
Claire lady of the House of Latria sounded like a pretty difficult person. I could
definitely understand why Eris might be the wrong fit for that situation. Getting
on the bad side of Zenith's family wasn't my idea of fun, and plus we'd have to
take her new infant on the dangerous journey. And so, Eris gave in.
This was the rare journey in which not a single one of my wives would be
joining me… But hey, that's life. And so, our preparations continued, until one
day, just before we were ready to depart, a startling realization forced a change
of plan.
Sylphie was pregnant.
Ch